Black Man Found Hanging From Tree In Georgia Committed Suicide
Source: Huffington Post
The death of Roosevelt Champion III, the black Georgia man who on Monday was found hanging from a tree, has been ruled a suicide by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
A forensic autopsy was performed on Champion Tuesday morning, the GBI told The Huffington Post in a statement, noting: "The results of the autopsy are that the manner of death is suicide and the cause of death is hanging. After a thorough autopsy examination, there was no evidence of any inflicted trauma to Champions body."
Law enforcement said that Champion was hanging by a strap like those used to secure cargo on car roofs, with no visible wounds and his feet brushing the ground, NBC reports.
Investigators initially found no signs of struggle or other trauma on Champions body, which could indicate foul play, according to Rusty Andrews, deputy director at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, talking to Action 2 News Monday.
Champion had been interviewed in connection with the murder of a woman on May 2 but had not been charged, Andrews told the station.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/12/roosevelt-champion-hanging_n_7260664.html
Probably won't change anyone's minds from yesterdays newstory, but it was what I suspected it to be....suicide.
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)do you have any evidence to the contrary?
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)It isn't enough.."
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)fortunately you're "feelings" have no legal basis.
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Abouttime
(675 posts)The Feds need to look into this, there might be a local kkk (tea party) that helped this poor soul up to that tree branch.
onecaliberal
(32,929 posts)mia
(8,363 posts)May he rest in peace.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)Reter
(2,188 posts)Who would kill themselves without an explanation? If you are going to ruin your families lives, common courtesy would be to leave a note.
Response to Reter (Reply #32)
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MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)But I also believe (with certain huge exceptions, most notably mental illness) that suicide is an extremely selfish act, so I am not all that surprised they would be discourteous.
And regardless of what we think, a note is not common for whatever reason. Rates run about 1/6.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_note
Quackers
(2,256 posts)Writing a suicide note makes you relive or face the issues that's causing the suicidal thoughts. By avoiding writing a note, you can avoid facing the pain. That's just my experience though.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)7962
(11,841 posts)FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)The statistics and odds pointed to suicide, but logic doesn't always apply.
I have my emotional hot topics too where I don't see things logically, so I can't judge too much.
crim son
(27,464 posts)racially-charged cases have been fixed to ensure a particular outcome, so I don't believe that having doubt in this case is entirely an irrational, emotional response. I'm curious if many people choose death by hanging from a tree as their way out. There was another one in the news recently, in Miss. that was widely reported but it could happen ten times a day for all I know.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)In Bangladesh for instance, 31,857 people chose hanging for suicide in the period from 2002-2009.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)I thought the usual method was with a tie in the closet.
betcha he had help.
7962
(11,841 posts)So yes, it does happen.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)I'm not really sure, but I kind of doubt that. The method you described would probably result in a painful, panicked death by strangulation. The goal of a suicide by hanging is to break the neck, resulting in death in just a few seconds.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)Nearly all suicides by hanging are by asphyxiation. The reality is many people do not panic because the rope cuts off the blood flow to the brain and they lose consciousness within seconds as if put into a sleep hold.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)It's hard to tell what's going through someones mind once they choose to commit suicide, but comments and notes left by people who have done it tend to suggest that it's an attempt to save their loved ones from being the person to find their bodies afterward. I read in another article that he'd been staying with his mother, so that certainly fits the profile. People who live alone often kill themselves at home, because they aren't as worried about that sort of thing.
When someone hangs themselves in a public place, they'll typically choose a spot remote enough so that nobody will interfere, but where their body will still be found at some point. A secluded tree in a park or on a nearby property, a low bridge in a less traveled area...somewhere like that.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)would think twice b4 hanging himself from a tree.
especially if he didn't want to upset his momma.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)And he no doubt knew that his mother was going to be upset. He just didn't want her to be the one to find the body.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)it's not easy being not-white.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I worked in the parks department of a major city. It happens more than you think.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)wife informed him she was leaving with the 3 kids.
Tree, front yard, no note.
Trying to make this into something it wasn't does not help anyone or anything.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)in the back of a police car, while handcuffed?
betcha he had help too.
this was only, like six months ago.
Response to redruddyred (Reply #13)
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6000eliot
(5,643 posts)I don't care what the results of any racist inquiry say. I've heard this story before as well.
groundloop
(11,527 posts)I've lived in Georgia for many years and have never heard of a case where the GBI's findings were influenced by racism or politics. If their autopsy found that there were no signs of trauma I believe them.
Now then, maybe we could talk about why this man would have chose to commit suicide. Maybe it was mental illness, maybe he was the victim of racism which led to a deep depression, maybe he had marital or money issues, who knows. But I believe looking into that would be more productive.
6000eliot
(5,643 posts)Sorry, they are going to have to prove independently that he wasn't lynched. I don't believe them.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Calista241
(5,586 posts)Is the main reason why people commit suicide away from the home. It's not that much of a stretch to apply it to this case also.
Sgt Preston
(133 posts)Champion's death could be suicide, or could be murder, e.g., by relatives of the woman.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)You could be cracked on the head and hung, or you could be doped up and hung, or you could be tied up and hung. But if none of those things are true, then it is going to be suicide or accident, and in this case suicide by the circumstances.
What makes them rule out the murder is the lack of traces to show how the body could be found in the condition it was barring suicide.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Because no way would he meekly submit to having the noose put around his neck and carried up to the branch to be hanged. There would be marks of struggling and self-defense such as scratches and bruises all over his body. Alternatively he could have been murdered some other way, such as by a beating or being shot, and then his body hung from a tree to make a statement, but again this would be obvious in the autopsy.
Plenty of folks here disbelieving the findings, but nobody explaining how somebody who is dead by hanging but whose body is otherwise unmarked could have been murdered.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)Response to yurbud (Reply #31)
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yurbud
(39,405 posts)though it's kind of creepy that a black guy would pick this particular method to off himself given that it would scare the crap out of people beyond his immediate family.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)people who are bullied/threatened suicide frequently.